Chapter 4 Releasing

The voice on the phone was dead serious — no joke at all. And this was his own backer. A big shot like that wouldn't just mess around.

"What do you mean..."

"A big shot got out of Tidewater County today and came straight to you looking for someone. Word is you grabbed a woman named Carol!"

The voice on the other end went silent. Jace's whole body shook. He snapped his head up toward Jack and stumbled back a few steps.

Out of Tidewater County. Looking for Caroline.

That was exactly the same as the Jack standing right in front of him.

He never could have imagined that the big shot his backer mentioned was the very person he'd been dead set on killing.

"Jace, if you screw this up, I'll personally come collect your body." The call ended.

Jace felt a chill run through him. The whole thing felt completely insane. This nobody who looked like nothing special — he could actually make Jace's own backer call him directly and tell him to let the woman go?

Just then, a big guy beside Jace let out a nasty laugh. "Let me go first. I'll take care of him!" He grabbed a baseball bat and took a step forward.

Jace was terrified. Without thinking, he slapped the man hard across the face.

"Don't!" Jace roared.

The big guy stared at Jace, completely confused. The other guys around them all shot Jace baffled looks.

Jace took a deep breath, looked over at Jack, lowered his head to compose himself, then stepped forward with a warm smile. "Sir, you said you were looking for Caroline. I'll have someone bring her down right now. My guys were just being too loud — that's why I didn't catch what you came here for."

Jace walked up to Jack and inclined his head.

Carol stood behind Jack with a blank look on her face, her mind full of questions.

Every one of the thugs stared at Jace in disbelief.

What was going on? Just a moment ago Jace was talking about taking Jack out. Now suddenly he was scraping like this?

"Oh? You're sure you want to let me go? Not keep me here?" Jack raised an eyebrow slightly, looking Jace over with the faint hint of a smile.

He could see it clearly. Ever since that phone call, Jace had turned into a completely different person.

Looks like Vito Sonny really came through for him.

"Go bring Caroline down. If she has so much as a hair out of place, I'm holding you responsible." Jace pointed to one of his trusted guys, his voice slightly shaking.

The guy heard the order and immediately ran upstairs.

In one of the offices, a beautiful woman was tied to a chair, hands and feet bound.

Bang!

The door swung open. A thug walked in with a respectful look on his face and untied Caroline. "You're free to go, ma'am. Here's two thousand dollars. Once you're out, keep your mouth shut."

Caroline stared at him blankly, took the money, then followed him out.

In the main hall, Jack stood quietly, his eyes fixed on the staircase leading to the second floor.

A moment later, a stunning woman walked down.

"Mom!" Carol cried out with joy.

The woman rushed over to Carol and pulled her into a tight hug, then looked over at Jack in surprise. "Is that... Jack?"

She finally recognized him, but the way he carried himself now was nothing like before.

Six years apart. He'd grown tall and broad-shouldered, with sharp, handsome features and an air of cold intensity about him.

"Sir, I did what you asked. Please, let this go and spare me," Jace stepped forward and said reverently.

"She wasn't hurt while she was here, was she?" Jack's voice was ice cold as he kept his eyes fixed on Jace.

Jace flinched and glanced over at Caroline. Even the thug who had just untied her swallowed nervously.

"Jack, they didn't do anything to me. I owed Jace money, and that's why they brought me in." Caroline spoke up. She didn't know exactly what had happened, but she knew better than to stir things up with these people.

A smile spread across Jace's face. Caroline's measured words put him at ease, and he quickly said, "Ma'am, whatever you owed our company — consider it wiped clean. I hope we can be friends going forward."

Caroline looked stunned. Carol was just as surprised. What was Jace playing at? He was letting them go and on top of that wanted to be friends?

Jack gave a cold laugh and stepped toward Jace. "Friends with her? Who do you think you are?"

Jace stumbled back in fright, forcing an awkward smile. "You're absolutely right, sir. I got carried away for a moment."

The hall went dead quiet. Everyone stared at Jack and Jace, their minds full of questions. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they'd have thought they were dreaming.

Jack kept his cold gaze on Jace until the man shrank back into the crowd in fear. Then Jack shook his head with contempt. He turned and walked over to Caroline and Carol, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "Caroline, Carol — let's go. Time to head home."

"Okay." Caroline nodded, took Carol's hand, and the three of them walked out.

Before they left, Jace eagerly offered up one of his cars for Jack to drive.

The whole way, Caroline couldn't stop staring at Jack in amazement. She had said she wasn't hurt because she didn't want to make things worse. But looking back now, Jace's attitude toward Jack wasn't just polite — it was full-on reverence, almost submission.

Caroline couldn't hold back her curiosity. "Jack, were you okay in prison these past six years? And how do you have this kind of pull — enough to make Jace bow down like that?"

Jack smiled and thought for a moment before answering. "The six years were fine. Jace is a smart man. He knows I'm not someone to mess with, so he acted accordingly."

Caroline nodded slowly, a small smile on her lips. Clearly, she figured she'd guessed right.

Carol immediately pushed back. "Come on, how is that possible? Jace is a serious player — and he can't afford to mess with you? Mom, why do you believe his bragging? On the way here today, we ran into a female cop, and Jack actually took her down. I bet Jace found out about it and didn't want to get dragged into it, so he had no choice but to let you go."

Caroline looked at Jack in surprise. "Jack, you took down a police officer?"

"Caroline, don't worry about it. I can handle it. You don't need to stress over me." Jack gave a light smile, kept his hands on the wheel, and headed for home.

Getting Caroline out was the first thing he'd done after six years inside. Having his family back together made him happier than he could say.

As for his cousin's jabs, he couldn't be bothered.

The three of them agreed to go back home first and see Jack's mother, Kaylin.

Jack focused on driving while Caroline and Carol chatted in the back.

Then Caroline let out a dry cough, her face going pale. "Cough, cough..."

"Mom, what's wrong?" Carol looked over in alarm, then frantically started digging through her bag.

"Carol, hurry... my medicine..." Caroline's face flushed red as she gasped in pain.